visually exploring community in urban spaces

September 25, 2015

Justice for Jonathan Rally

August 19th in the small, normally sleepy town of Stonewall, MS found a large crowd and megaphones amassed in a community baseball field. The reason: Justice for Jonathan Sanders–a black man who had been strangled and died in an altercation with local police officer–this the latest of many such incidents across the country. Led by Chokwe Anton Lumumba, the lawyer for the Sanders family, the crowd progressed from the field to the City Clerk’s office–chanting the whole time.

“Stonewall’s got killer cops, we want justice for mop top!”

Relations with the police did not improve with the rally though–the discontent rose instead as police informed the crowd that without a permit to march, they could not walk on the roads. Like most of Mississippi–there are few sidewalks in Stonewall–leaving the crowd to soldier through calf-high grass, fire ants, and mosquitoes–all in addition to the Mississippi heat.